Every time I have waked n' baked, be it through booze or weed, I have been very regretful. Three hours into the session reality becomes an abstraction. Five hours in, I understand how opiate addicts operate. Being wasted constantly is in many ways more pleasant than being sober constantly. But it's also horrifying, the same as constant sobriety. The key to living without despondency is a balance between mental states, and that simply cannot be achieved if you start getting fucked up as soon as you become conscious. Also, our society really super duper heavily incentivizes us not to be drunk constantly.

All that I just wrote was a basic realization. I came to it when I was 15. But still, sometimes, here and there, I'll get super excited about a wake and bake event: a weekend starting with brunch, a football game, long bike ride, etc. I always regret the drinking part, and I remember that regret, yet I still look forward to these events the way I used to look forward to Christmas.

I think part of the reason why the Southern US has relatively larger problems with substance abuse is that their culture idolizes the kind of "HEE YAW" recklessness embodied by this beer but also very harshly punishes anyone who deviates from their very narrow standards of acceptable comportment. A Southern Man is wild and free, riding his motorcycle while listening to the nu-metal station, but, gull darnitt, ain't no one gonna break the law in this here town.

The kids get mixed messages, is what I'm saying.

This does not mean to confuse Athens, GA--one of the most culturally accepting areas of the country--with "the south." Athens is in the south but not of the south. The do not hate the south. They are not ashamed of it. But there's things about the south Athens might not be pleased with. I'm that way with midwestern white trash.

So what the hell is this? What's their whole ethos? Why does the beer name bother me?

Because the names matter and the packaging matters and the price matters. We cannot decouple our sensory responses to a beer from the rest of it, which is why blind tastings engender such anger. But I don't think we should. I also don't know where this is going.

I love Terrapin? How about that? They're good and I love where the come from culturally even though the guys who run the place would probably hate me.

This pours dark and squishy. It smells like a goddamn coffee oatmeal stout, which is about my favorite thing.

Tastes... pretty amazing. Barley up front, equal parts burnt and sweet, with some wonderful oatmeal complication rushing in, followed by oatmeal complication and coffee, ending wonderfully rough--again, like an oatmeal.

I cannot tie my thoughts together right now. I wish my thoughts would die. This beer is wonderful.

DATE: July 24, 2016... OCCASION: a HOT summer day turns to a night of AC that will pair well with this stout... GLASSWARE: Duvel snifter... this "monster beer" pours a pitch-black body, a ring of brown, thin, bubbly head, and a nebula swirl in its middle... with the weighty alcohol content, this is a good-looking beer... robust espresso brine--like damp or dank decaff--blams the nostrils, with oatmeal and rum-like ethanol... a lively, instantaneously warming impact accompanies the smooth, creamy body that is beyond sippable for the power it packs... halfway through, the beer continues to deliver a stunning combination of peat, smoke and salty oatmeal with an intense chocolate and coffee bean punch... having trouble finding holes in this profile.. perhaps the only regret is this isn't a bomber.... from its name to its label, from its impact to its flavor, quite impressive... I would seek this out again in a heartbeat, and what a boon from a breakpack mix...

Smell - sweet coffee...I don't smell the normal chocolate of a stout and I won't pretend to be able to smell hints of oats

Taste - coffee and a light presence of bitter cocoa...it doesn't have the bitterness of some imperials...while it isn't complex, it is delicious. Not much in the roasted malt flavor I normally enjoy in a stout.

Feel - very smooth...medium to heavy carbonation...body is medium to heavy...I am not getting the alcohol here and at 9+ ABV that's impressive

Overall - I find this to be very different from my top Oatmeal (Smith) and Imperials (Yeti, Founders). It is very much a coffee stout...and for an avid coffee, beer and bourbon (figure I'd through all my vices in there)...I find it to be quite good.

I gotta say I'm disappointed. Is really like an alcohol infused carbonated coffee. Deep roasted malts are almost absent and there is very little if any chocolate or toffee flavor. The bitterness and booze don't go well together Mouthfeel is thin. I guess I'll try to age these and hope the coffee and booze dissipate.

2014 Vintage poured into 18th Street snifter.
This looks like the typical Imperial Stout black that, around the edges, is light brown and very thin when held to the light. Sweet nose with the taste balancing sweet milk chocolate and bitter coffee very well. Soft and thin. The ABV seems right on point. Wish I had more!

Pours a opaque black no light showing thru this bad boy with a thinner mocha colored head,wow the aromas damn where to begin heavy on the dark roast coffee,bitter chocolate a hint of almond extract as well just awesome.Flavors are heavy in the coffee department for some it maybe to much dark roast coffee and chocolate malt flavors with a malted milk type flavor,nice creamy,silky mouthfeel glides down pretty easily.If you like strong coffee and bitter chocolate you'll love this beer.

Vintage 2014
Aromas of coffee, chocolate and a touch of sweet booze -wonderful. Taste is of a little more subdued coffee and chocolate, roasted malts and chewy. I will have to try this fresh and also the French toast version.

Thanks to nedvalton for this one! Pours a thick, dark black color with only an ever-so-slight, deep brown shearing on the very outer edges of the beer. A marginally darker-than-tan head forms slowly and encapsulates the beer about one inch deep under a bed of super-fine carbonation bubbles.

The aroma - what do you know - is very heavy on the coffee; black and deep with a nice roasted bean flavor. An almost equal part dark chocolate fudges battles for the foreground, adding an earthy sweetness to the strong, bitter coffee. Some more roasted overtones filled with ashy molasses and syrup round out the edges of a wonderfully crafted aromatic profile. Can't wait to taste this one.

This one his the palate with a medium-thick body, actually a little lighter than expected, especially from the almost sludgy looking pour; still, pretty creamy and silky overall. Sweet, alcohol-drenched chocolate comes out first and foremost, almost like a rum-covered devil's food cake. Silky and syrupy sweetness is abound, but matched formidably by a roasted espresso bean flavor that limps in around the halfway mark and marches strong through the ending.

That big, robust coffee flavor sits heavy on the palate and lacquers the inside of your mouth so that you're tasting it minutes after having swallowed a sip. The sweetness battles back however, and I'm almost even picking up some very faint dark fruits; figs and black licorice. Despite the colossal malt rampage, the hops are far from unnoticed and actually add quite the spike - leafy, herbal, and a touch dry, the bitterness they assert does a perfect balance job and keeps the heavy malt bill in check. Wonderful from start to finish.

Glad I finally got to try this one. A damn fine coffee stout, balanced well and executed masterfully. Nice battle of chocolate vs. coffee with a nearly perfect inclusion hops to offer the counterpoint. So - is this better than Founder's Breakfast Stout? It's hard to say. I never like comparing beers because it always seems like the non-winner misses out on the credit it deserves. Terrapin has crafted a fine coffee stout - tasty and drinkable, bottom line. I wish I could get my hands on this all the time.

A- Pours black with only brown showing around the top of the beer in light otherwise opaque.
Small active tight bubbled dark tan head that falls into the black coffee colored beer as fast as it came. Gone in 5 seconds but did make an appearance! No lacing at all.

S- Smells straight up like used coffee grinds with hints of cream and vanilla. One of a kind smell.

T-M- Well like the smell it taste like somebody recycled the the coffee grinds at work. But wait is that the oatmeal that dulls the coffee flavor? I'll be damned it is! Ok so the flavors are obviously a fresh batch of raw oatmeal with heavy doses of black coffee with vanilla and a alcohol cream finish... excellent complexities. Smooth creamy mouthfeel with lasting linger of raw coffee beans.

D- I will aquire this beer again so that i can share its goodness with everyone... in the morning that is! Haha Hold the cream and sugar I'll have it black! Cheers!

Pours like a thick coffee. And it smells like you are in a diner at 430 am after a night out. I can almost smell bacon in the background. It's very smooth and goes down easier than it should. So much flavor packed into a single brew. I love this stuff.